Molecular Workbench is a free and open source system that provides visual, interactive simulations for science. The simulations are in lesson format, with embedded assessments and the ability to change variables and see what happens. There are hundreds of free simulations in physics, chemistry, biology, biotech and nanotech.

Some are similar to the simulations in PhET, but these are more lesson based vs. just a simulation. They are well written and designed and the interactive simulations really explain concepts well and let students explore them in more depth.

The other very cool feature is that educators can customize any of these simulations to better fit their lessons and you can use the software (free) to create your own from scratch using their modeling tools.

Here is a screen shot from the Heat and Temperature module. The introduction page has a simulation that shows molecular movement based on temperature.

Molecular Workbench is one of those resources that has a lot of potential. Teachers can use them as part of class, as extra help, or as an online course. Students could even use the software to create their own simulations and lessons as an assignment.




Related:

PhET - free online science and math simulations - very cool!

There have been some great discussions over the years about the effects of poverty on students and the obstacles poverty creates for them in regards to school and education. I teach in a school district where 95% of the students qualify for free lunch and poverty is a major issue.

Richard Byrne started it off and the discussion is very thought provoking. You can see the conversation starter at Richard's Blog- http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2011/11/balancing-reform-with-reality.html and then follow it onto Google+.

Poverty is a huge factor in student achievement. Students in poverty have other things to worry about, like working to help the family, taking care of siblings, no where to do homework, and many more issues. They may have gotten a slow start in school, miss school for a variety of issues, and not see the importance of education. They may have no help at home from parent(s) or they may be the ones helping their parent(s) learn English or how to read. They may spend the evening cooking and cleaning and taking care of their siblings and helping them with their homework. They may not have any quiet place to do homework or study and may not have a computer to use. Poor nutrition, poor medical care, and poor living conditions can also contribute to developmental and health issues.

Poverty is a huge factor in these children's lives and their education. They can achieve and they can learn and they can succeed. But they face huge obstacles that we must address and help them overcome. If we can help them overcome these obstacles, we can help them achieve.


The Washington Post Answer Sheet (education column) also has a good article on the effects of poverty on children and how we must address this.


Here's a infographic about poverty and children from the Indiana Youth Institute. You can download the image or PDF from their site.

Google announced yesterday that there is a new look coming to the Google bar (that black bar at the top of the page when you are logged into Google products. The black bar is gone.

The new design will place the links to the Google services in a drop down menu under the Google logo. A list will be displayed of some services and then you can click "more" to see the rest. The menu links to Google+, Web Search, Image Search, Google Maps, YouTube, Google News, Gmail, Google Docs, and adds some new ones: Google Wallet, Google Offers, Google Music, Google Mobile and Blogger.


In addition, Google+ notifications, your profile menu and the +share box will be displayed to the right of the search box. 



I like it. It's much cleaner and easier to use and there are more services on the menu. The black bar was a bit distracting.


The new design will be rolling out to users over the next few days.

I had posted about this site a couple of years ago, but wanted to mention it to everyone again. 180 Technology Tips is a great resource for educators, providing free technology tips and help. You can visit the site or subscribe to get an email every school day (hence the 180 tips) with a short lesson on some aspect of technology. The site reviews web searching, Word and Excel tips, email, hardware and software, and much more. You can also look at the past lessons in the archive.

The tips are organized by date and by topic and  you can search the site.

Google Maps 6.0 for Android just got released and it has a couple of very cool features.

One of the coolest new features is Indoor Google Maps. Airports, malls, stores, and other public places have map directories in Google Maps. Couple this with GPS and you won't get lost trying to find the terminal for your flight or your favorite store at the mall.

The floor plans will automatically appear when you are in the map and zoom in on a building where there is indoor map data available. It even adjusts for what floor you are on.





Mall of America in Minneapolis before and after, with a floor selector



San Francisco International Airport before and after, with 3D tilt


The other two features announced are easier switching between features using a drop down menu on the top toolbar and a new Places home screen to help you find new nearby places.

Read more about this (including some videos) on the Google Mobile Blog.

Related:

Android Apps related to Bloom's Taxonomy

Android resources - information, news, resources, and more

Android Smartphone and Apps I use as an educator

It just occurred to me as I looked around my classroom that about 80% of the technology, resources and equipment in my room has come from grants, not the school district. I also use all free software and web apps.

School district supplied: teacher computer and printer, Windows and Office, 5 student computers, paper, desks.

Acquired through grants and donations that I applied for: LCD projector, color printer/scanner, ethernet hub, digital camera, document camera, Multimedia Science School software, and 95% of the lab equipment that I use with the students.

Provided by me: DVD player, speakers for computer, equipment and supplies for certain labs, and two other student computers that I salvaged/created from a bunch of broken computers.

I have not had any funds from the school system to purchase supplies or equipment for physics for 5 years and the budget just keeps getting worse.

The IT department has been good to me with support and repairs.

So, I am beyond grateful and thankful for the donations and grants that I have been able to get. Thank you to the Air Force Association, American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics, Donor's Choose (thousands of dollars worth of supplies thanks to various donors), Fairfield University, and a variety of other organizations that have donated money or supplies to my classroom. Without their generosity, my students would not have the educational experiences that they enjoy now.

Thank you!!!!

The Edublog Awards for 2011 are DUE BY FRIDAY!. You can nominate your favorite blogs, Tweeters, blog posts, wiki's, free web tool, and more. You create your list of nominations and then post it online and share the link with the Edublogs Awards site. 


The Edublog Awards are one of the awards programs that I like because it is based on educator opinions, not some company or individual. You can not nominate yourself though. 


Go to the Edublog Awards nomination page for instructions and nominate your favorites. 


My nominations are here. 


Awards categories for 2011:

Best individual blog
Best individual tweeter
Best group blog
Best new blog
Best class blog
Best student blog
Best ed tech / resource sharing blog
Most influential blog post
Best twitter hashtag
Best teacher blog
Best librarian / library blog
Best School Administrator blog
Best free web tool
Best educational use of audio / video / visual / podcast
Best educational wiki
Best open PD / unconference / webinar series
Best educational use of a social network
Lifetime achievement

Coursekit is a free course management system (similar to Blackboard or Moodle) that is described as being more "social". It was developed by recent graduates who wanted to change how students and instructors interacted outside of the classroom. It has already gotten some rave reviews and is being used by thousands of instructors and students already.

Coursekit combines a variety of tools for educators to use for extending their classroom or even creating an online course. Discussion groups, assignments with grading, resource sharing, a class calendar, and a community forum are just some of the tools available. Educators can post links, videos, and other files, hold online discussions, and even write a blog post.

It's one more tool educators can use to connect with their students outside of the classroom.




Related:

LearnBoost - free online grade book and lesson planner and more
MyBigCampus - course management system - follow my year long review of it on Tech&Learning.

Engineering is a passion of mine. I have a BS Degree in Mechanical Engineering-Aerospace, from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and worked for 10 years as an engineer before making a career change to education. I still do some engineering consulting work also. I use engineering concepts and ideas in my physics class, encourage students to look at engineering as a career, and run an after-school pre-engineering program at my school.

One of the ways I get students interested in science and engineering is to show them some of the cool things that scientists and engineers do. I use a variety of resources to find things to share with them and do lots of projects in class. I let them chose a project topic each year also so that they can investigate anything that they are interested in (as long as it has some relation to physics, which pretty much everything does).

There are some great videos out there from Discovery Education, on TV, and on YouTube that show technology related to something the students know. I love doing amusement park physics and let them design their own roller coasters.

You can also have guest speakers come into your class and speak to the students about their career as a scientist or engineer or mathematician. A former VP of Sikorsky Aircraft (and test pilot) was a graduate of the high school I teach at so I had him come in and speak to the students. I also take some of them to Sikorsky Aircraft for a tour of the plant and engineering.

Here are some pictures, with descriptions, that you can use with your students to get them excited about STEM topics.

Pictures, videos, guest speakers, field trips, and projects are all great ways of getting students more interested and engaged in STEM subjects.



Other STEM Resources:

STEM - description, ideas and resources for educators

More Engineering Resources for K12 Educators and Students

There are a variety of ways to share blog posts you read with others. You can copy the link and email it to someone or manually post the link on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook. But many blogs, this one included, have easy shortcuts to use to share articles.

At the bottom of each post on this blog are 6 options for sharing. You can print it using Print Friendly and hand the hard copy to someone (although we are trying to get away from using paper). You can also click one of the icons and share the article/blog post via Email, share it on your own blog, post it to Twitter or Facebook and even +1 share it to Google+.

I had an interesting experience recently with the fourth grade students I'm teaching this year at John Muir Elementary.  I read them the story "Double Trouble" by Philip Cam. A kind of retelling of the "Ship of Theseus," the story is about a robot whose parts have been replaced, one after another, until he no longer has any of his original parts, and a new robot has been built using all of the old parts.  Which one is the "real" Algernon (the robot's name)?

I have used this story for years and it has virtually always inspired a discussion about the standard questions of personal identity and persistence over time.  (I wrote about such a conversation last year in this post.)  In this session, however, the students took the discussion in an entirely different direction.  They voted to start with one of their questions about whether in this story robots were only owned by rich people or whether everyone had robots.  This led to the question about whether robots were things, and a couple of students asserted that robots (or at least the ones in the story) were people.  How do we know what makes someone a person?  The students suggested that having names, or being able to talk and move independently, were possible criteria.  Then several students noted that while the robots seemed to have feelings, they were probably programmed to have them, and that this is what made them different from people.

Several of my undergraduate students were present that day, and one commented, "Sometimes I feel things I would like to choose not to feel, but I feel them anyway. Is it possible that I'm programmed?"

One of the most interesting features of the conversation that ensued in that fourth grade classroom was how closely it resembled a similar conversation I had with college students not too long ago.  The students went from being sure they were not programmed to speculating about the possibility that, as one child put it, "there are beings out there somewhere who are a lot bigger than us and they are totally controlling what we do."

"That could be," another student responded. "But at the same time, I feel like what goes on inside me is really me, that it can't be controlled by anyone else. Maybe someone could be controlling what I do, but I don't think they could be controlling what I feel."

The discussion went on for over an hour and at the end we talked about how complex these questions were, and how sometimes in philosophy the questions seemed even more puzzling after talking about them than they had originally.

I just learned about Print Friendly from Free Technology For Teachers. It is an add-on that allows you to print any web page or article using less paper. It's very easy to use and install on a website or blog. Just follow the simple instructions.

I've installed it on each article so that if you want to print an article, click on the Print Friendly gadget.

My wife and I just started watching NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service on CBS. The show follows the exploits of a team of investigators from NCIS (a real agency). The characters include 3 field agents, a field agent/computer expert, a medical examiner and a forensic scientist. The story lines include quite a bit of accurate science both in forensics, anatomy and physiology, and computer science. It airs on Tuesdays at 8 on CBS (and all the past seasons are available on DVD). Many of the episodes are also available on their website.


The forensic scientist character, Abby, is a funny, sweet, super smart, goth woman who uses some great science and technology to help solve the crimes.

Forensic science and shows like this are great ways to get students interested and excited in science.

There is some violence, suggestive dialogue and views of the autopsies (fake, of course) so parental and teacher review is needed. Showing clips in school and then getting students interested in the show might be a good way to go about it.

Other Forensic Science Resources:

Science-Class (has a whole section on Forensics)

The TV Show Bones (about an FBI agent and forensic scientist team)

CSI: The Experience Web Adventures

PhET - online science simulations - can be used to do forensics too.





Disclaimer: I was NOT paid for this article.

Today I decided to change things up a bit. I selected a new design and changed the layout somewhat of this blog. I just though it needed to be updated and have a new look.

I'd love any feedback, positive or negative, about the new look.

Thanks!!

And thanks for reading this blog!

I just posted a nice infographic on better searches on Google, but Google has some great resources on better searches too.

Google's Educator Resource page has 8 free, downloadable posters, for educators that have tips and idea for doing better searches, including web search, book search, scholar, quiz, Earth, and for kids.

These are great resources to share with your students.

Google for Educators Resources.

This is a great infographic that has been making the rounds on the internet. It shows some great tips on doing better (ie. more targeted) searches on Google. Share it with your students.




Created by: HackCollege

Here are the most popular posts on Educational Technology Guy for the last week:

Professional Development for Educators needs to change

Free science resources for Educators from the National Institutes of Health

Great Prezi for students (and teachers) on future-proofing an education

QR Codes - what are they, how to make and read them

The National Institutes of Health has a great science education resource site with free resources for educators.

The site has research, links, resources, lesson plans, images, standards based curriculum and much more. Resources are organized by type, grade level, and subject area. There is also information on science careers and grants for educators.



The curriculum section has units on cell biology and cancer, bio-ethics, cellular and molecular biology and more. A new addition to the high school curriculum is "Evolution and Medicine" which is a guide for teachers designed to help students use scientific inquiry to understand evolutionary principles through medical research. The middle school curriculum also has a new addition: "Rare Diseases and Scientific Inquiry." In this unit, students use inquiry to explore rare diseases and their treatments as they gain a better understanding of the human body.

All of the resources are free online  and some can be ordered as hard copies for free.

The NIH is also sponsoring a Lab Challenge. The NIH K-12 LAB Challenge is a call for teachers to submit K-12 best practice labs. The labs should be safe and inexpensive and take 90 minutes or less with clear objects. The submissions will be shared with everyone on the NIH site. It is open to anyone in the US or a US Territory or DoD facility overseas. Winners will be recognized and get an electronic badge to share on their site. The entry deadline is 12/15/2011.

This is a great resource for biology and health teachers, as well as a resource for other teachers looking to incorporate these topics in their classroom. The resources are well written and can help get students excited and engaged about science.

ZoonZone is site that has a collection of hands-on activities and projects for science and technology.

There are 20 different projects in 5 different areas. Each project has a video that can be used to introduce the project to your class. There are overviews of each activity, ideas for extending the project and a list of resources to help students. The overview includes the concepts that the students will be learning about through the project.

This is a great resource for teachers. They can use these activities to add STEM content to their class and incorporate projects into their curriculum. The projects are also great for introducing engineering concepts to students.

EdReach is a web site that was created by a group of educators, including Scott Meech, who wanted to create a place for educators to share, collaborate, and contribute to bringing education forward. 

I just found a great Prezi on Edudemic's site called "How To Future-Proof Your Education." The Prezi was created by Maria Andersen and explains how while content and technology change, the key skills around them stay the same. They skills include learning, explaining, analyzing, solving problems, and communications. If students have these skills, they can adapt to the changing future.

This is a great Prezi for educators to look at to get ideas for skills they should be teaching their students and it's a great Prezi to share with high school and college students.

There is a great discussion on edreform and other issues going on over on Google+ right now.

Richard Byrne started it off and the discussion is very thought provoking.

Come and join the conversation. Start here at Richard's Blog- http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2011/11/balancing-reform-with-reality.html

I recently found this infographic on education, technology and the future. It's a good read and makes you think.



Created by: Online Schools

I just wrote about DropPages, a site that allows you to easily set up a simple website using your Dropbox account. As I was searching for some other information about DropPages, I found an article about it on Lifehacker (and awesome resource for everything) that also talks about Pancake.io as another service to host websites using Dropbox.

Pancake.io is very easy to use. Use your Dropbox account (or get one if you don't have one already) and then create a Pancake.io account. Pancake will then request permission to create a single folder on your Dropbox account where the files for your site will be stored. Text files in that folder will be viewable online. Text files that you create in that folder will be turned into a web page. If you want to update the page, just open the text file in any text editor, change it, and save it.

Pancake also supports PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and JPEG, PNG, and GIF files.

This is another easy way to create small web sites for teachers or students. The simplicity of it makes it easy for anyone to get started with a web page.








PS - If you don't read Lifehacker, you really should. They have articles about technology, finances, cooking, home stuff and so much more.

DropPages is a service that allows you to easily set up a basic website for free using your Dropbox account.

DropPages is easy to use and set up. Simply create a site folder inside Dropbox that matches the domain name. The domain name format will be yoursite.droppages.com. For custom domains, you'll have to upgrade your account for a fee. Then you share the folder and get started. There are themes and it automatically generates navigational elements so all the pages are linked.

You are subject to data transfer limits in Dropbox (10GB per day for free users) and if you go over this limit your account will be suspended. This means DropPages is really only useful for a small simple site.

If you are looking to create a simple, small website, DropPages may be an option for you.



Related:

Google Sites - free website hosting. Has class web site templates and integrates with all of Google's apps. 

Pogoplug, a company that already has streaming and sharing devices, announced a new service: Pogoplug Cloud.

The Pogoplug Cloud service provides 5GB of free storage and allows users to store their files online. They can then access, share, or stream the content from their mobile device. You sign up directly from any mobile phone, web browser, or tablet. You can purchase additional online storage also. 50GB is $9.95 per month and 100GB is $19.95 per month. Pricing is similar to many other cloud storage systems.

One thing that is different is that you can host a private, unlimited cloud for no monthly fees by purchasing a Pogoplug box ($99) and connecting it to your network.

Pogoplug will automatically upload photos and videos from your mobile phone to your Pogoplug cloud with no syncing required. (I have Sugarsync set up to do this on my Android phone). You can share anything in your cloud through email, Facebook, Twitter and Google+ and even create shared folders. You can also stream videos, photos, and musics to your phone.

There are free apps for iOS and Android.

This is one more of a growing number of cloud file storage systems. You should review each one and all of it's features and limitations before deciding on one.

Note:
Currently, Pogoplug is being blocked in my district under "generic remote sharing access". It's funny since SugarSync, Dropbox, Box, and Zumodrive are all available and unblocked.


What's your favorite cloud file storage system?




Related:
Cloud File Storage, Sync, and Sharing systems - list, description, and review of multiple systems

Sugarsync - store, sync and share (multiple computers can sync to same account)

Dropbox - store, sync and share (multiple computers can sync to same account)

Zumodrive

SpiderOak

Box.net (no syncing option with free account)

Chromebooks, the notebook computers that run Google's Chrome OS, are gaining popularity.

I have one of the original test models, the CR-48, and love it. I think Chromebooks and Chrome OS are great for education: nothing to install or update, students log in with own account, no data stored on device. A recent article of mine about Chromebooks vs. iPads and cloud apps vs. on-device apps got some good articles. 

Google has updated Chrome OS with some nice new features and has dropped the price of the Chromebooks to $299.

If you have ever looked at getting a Chromebook, now is a good time.

Engineering is a passion of mine. I have a BS Degree in Mechanical Engineering-Aerospace, from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and worked for 10 years as an engineer before making a career change to education. I still do some engineering consulting work also. I use engineering concepts and ideas in my physics class, encourage students to look at engineering as a career, and run an after-school pre-engineering program at my school. I think that engineering is an excellent career choice for many students and the engineering process is a very powerful method of solving problems that all students should learn. I also think that WPI's educational model is one that K12 can use ideas from.

I recently posted about STEM and engineering resources and the emphasis on STEM being placed on schools.

I've posted engineering resources before, but I wanted to share some new ones along with re-sharing some oldies but goodies.




Engineering Interact is a great site to introduce engineering concepts and processes to 9-11 year olds.

The site has 5 different games based on different science topics that give students a chance to learn while playing. The games teach students about the concepts. The concepts are: Light, Sound, Forces and Motion, Earth and Beyond, Electricity.

There are also links to other resources about science and engineering.

This is a great resource for younger students, but the games can be used with older students also.





NASA at Home and City is a great site from NASA that shows examples of how technologies developed for space exploration are used and applied on Earth.

The site is graphic based, easy to use, and very informative. It's a great resource to share with students to show them how developments for one thing can apply to another.